ARMPIT WITH FEET

...or was that a pair of feet that had an armpit...

Remember that great AXE ad that managed to strike just the right balance of disgusting and, um, repulsive? The Washington Post does, in this look back at the magazine weirdness of 2004. (You'll need to subscribe to read the whole thing, but the opening grafs are the highlight, IMHO, and they're reprinted below...)

2004's Sassy, Trashy, Gassy, Flashy Glossies

Future historians of American magazines will no doubt remember 2004 as the year when an armpit with feet became a major sex symbol.

The armpit starred in a series of advertisements for Axe deodorant that appeared in Rolling Stone, Maxim, Cargo and countless other mags. The Axe armpit is not what you'd call a classic matinee idol -- he has no head, no legs, a crop of hair and two chubby feet, each with three fat toes -- but the dude proved to be a major playa.

In one ad, the armpit enjoyed a candlelight dinner with a busty brunette who slipped off her shoe and played footsie with him under the table. In another ad, the armpit perched on a fluffy white rug in front of a blazing fireplace while a leggy blonde ran her fingers through his hair. In a third ad, the armpit canoodled with a wine-swilling babe on a gondola in Venice.

Just reminiscing about these ads makes me want to hurl. But I remember one (and I fully admit that this sentence sounds ludicrous) where the armpit was astride a horse with a beautiful woman clutched him from behind, as the pair rode romantically along a beach.

The moral of the ad series? Women don't just see a smelly armpit with smelly feet. We see a smelly armpit with smelly feet and an excellent personality.

(Hello, lunch! Haven't seen you in several hours!)

ARMPIT WITH FEET

...or was that a pair of feet that had an armpit...

Remember that great AXE ad that managed to strike just the right balance of disgusting and, um, repulsive? The Washington Post does, in this look back at the magazine weirdness of 2004. (You'll need to subscribe to read the whole thing, but the opening grafs are the highlight, IMHO, and they're reprinted below...)

2004's Sassy, Trashy, Gassy, Flashy Glossies

Future historians of American magazines will no doubt remember 2004 as the year when an armpit with feet became a major sex symbol.

The armpit starred in a series of advertisements for Axe deodorant that appeared in Rolling Stone, Maxim, Cargo and countless other mags. The Axe armpit is not what you'd call a classic matinee idol -- he has no head, no legs, a crop of hair and two chubby feet, each with three fat toes -- but the dude proved to be a major playa.

In one ad, the armpit enjoyed a candlelight dinner with a busty brunette who slipped off her shoe and played footsie with him under the table. In another ad, the armpit perched on a fluffy white rug in front of a blazing fireplace while a leggy blonde ran her fingers through his hair. In a third ad, the armpit canoodled with a wine-swilling babe on a gondola in Venice.

Just reminiscing about these ads makes me want to hurl. But I remember one (and I fully admit that this sentence sounds ludicrous) where the armpit was astride a horse with a beautiful woman clutched him from behind, as the pair rode romantically along a beach.

The moral of the ad series? Women don't just see a smelly armpit with smelly feet. We see a smelly armpit with smelly feet and an excellent personality.

(Hello, lunch! Haven't seen you in several hours!)